All homes that lost power as Storm Gerrit lashed Scotland have now been reconnected, bosses at power firm SSEN have confirmed.
The electricity provider said its teams had worked through “particularly challenging conditions” to restore supplies to more than 48,000 homes.
A final push by staff saw the last properties without electricity reconnected by 11pm on Friday, with customers in parts of Aberdeenshire, Perthshire and The Great Glen area in the Highlands all now with power again.
Andy Smith, SSEN distribution’s operations director, said the storm had brought “serious disruption” with gale force winds having reached recorded speeds of 86mph in Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire and 84mph in Lerwick, Shetland.
We have restored power to all 48,000 customers who lost supply due to the impacts of #StormGerrit
We thank customers for their patience and understanding while our teams worked to restore supplies in challenging conditions.
Visit https://t.co/k2dlReZv4G for the full update
— Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (@ssencommunity) December 30, 2023
Mr Smith said: “Storm Gerrit caused serious disruption across the north of Scotland, and I would like to say thank you to our customers for their patience while we worked through some particularly challenging conditions to reconnect them, as quickly and safely as possible.
“I’m very proud of the work undertaken by SSEN’s operational teams, and for being out at all hours and in all weathers to find and fix the faults over the past few days.
“I would also like to extend my gratitude to our contract partners and fellow network operators for how they supported our response.”
It will be a frosty and cold start to Saturday for some, particularly across Scotland ❄️
Heavy rain and strong winds will sweep north-eastwards through the morning, bringing some hill snow in the north 🌧️
Cloudy in the far southeast but largely dry ☁️ pic.twitter.com/8xDdK4njGR
— Met Office (@metoffice) December 30, 2023
SSEN is now encouraging customers who were left without power to apply for compensation, depending on how long they were without electricity for.
Completion of work to restore electricity supplies comes ahead of the latest weather alert, with a yellow warning for rain and snow having been issued for much of Scotland on Saturday.
As a result of that Network Rail Scotland said speed restrictions will be in place on the West Highland Lines from 10am today until 9am on Sunday.